To wonder why MN hates en-suites?

[Greenbluestar]

Just curious 🤨

I have an en-suite and LOVE it. It's great for me and DP to have our own private space that children are barred from as it means that all my perfume, make-up etc is safe. Dare I say this is just jealousy disguised as disgust?

@FirewomanSam exactly! I have never had a poo or heard my DP pooing in our ensuite! If anything it’s great because it means that in our flat you can sneak to the relatively faraway ensuite to poo if they’re in the lounge and vice versa if they’re in the bedroom!

Wow, so many mumsnetters have stinky husbands with no manners! Of course no one would shit in an en suite during the night/when partner was in the room. At least, no one with common decency.

My bedroom is huge so the en suite doesn't feel tacked on or shoehorned in at all. I love it for the same reasons Sindel, it's my little haven. Love getting ready in there and knowing I'm not rushed if someone needs the loo. All my beauty products have their own place not crowded in with DH/DS Lynx etc

Nothing would make me buy a house without one. Absolutely love mine, it’s gorgeous, no expense spared.

Why do so many of your DH’s have so little respect for you?

Also, why do you allow this to happen!?

But on the flip side, if you have guests over then an en suite is brilliant for giving you some extra privacy.

This is what seems odd to me. If I had an en-suite - (I don’t, but I do have two bathrooms) that room would be for the guests - to give them extra privacy. They’re the ones that might need it, not the people in a family who already live together in a family home. It seems the wrong way round.

I love good en-suites but in the UK they are so often poorly done that I understand why many people don't like them.

The real problem (I think) is that homes today are just too small. As a pp said - they are often shoe horned in at the expense of storage or room to get around the bed (or have a king size bed). They're often tiny without room to use comfortably. They are put next to the main bathroom or over the kitchen to make them cheaper to plumb rather than in the place that would suit best.
And because of those space constraints they are generally so close to the bed that anyone else in the room will hear every sound you make in them. Which does not appeal to a lot of couples.

I think it’s split between those who have large houses and plenty of space, and those who don’t.

I love my mum’s house for example, which has a large family bathroom, an en-suite in the guest room and another for her bedroom plus a dressing room. Plus a downstairs toilet. All have an outside wall so windows in them.

On the flip side, I viewed a new build 4 bed recently where the master bedroom was just about big enough for a king size bed and one wardrobe, which meant an en-suite shoehorned into a corner. And of course it had no window.

So no, I don’t like them when they’re small and take up valuable space for storage. I like them when they don’t do that.

Lucky for those of you with lots of money I guess!

@Darbs76

I know someone with 5 toilets for 4 people. 4 showers. Is it really necessary?

We have 4 toilets, 3 bathrooms for 2 people, lots of things aren’t necessary but are nice to have, surely you realise people live in large houses if they can afford to?

I think it depends on house size, I get the impression a lot of MN is down south with high house prices. We are truly up north (80miles from the Scottish border) have a four/five bedroom house with one DS. Our ensuit is small so to make it bigger we are going to remove one of two sets of built in wardrobes. If we used all the rooms in the house this would be a storage problem but as it stands.

Bedroom 1 - husbands clothes
Bedroom two - DS room with gaming area and his stuff
Bedroom 3 - guest double bed plus my clothes and dressing table.
Bedroom 4 - sofa bed to make it a double room but mainly DS hobby room

Bedroom 5 (2nd en suit) - as it is down stairs it will be the games room/cinema with a sofa bed once we unpack!!

I couldn't be without our en suit love the privacy our previous 3 bed room semi had one with an amazing shower, we had the pull cord light inside so you could go in and shut the door before turning the light on.

We've always had a extra bedroom we've mainly used as storage which is a luxury but I find in modern houses it's a necessity.

@spongbob I can see why you feel bitter - you were taken in by marketing bullshit and ended up in Canary Wharf - you can move if you’re not happy. There are more interesting parts of London to live in.

This is what seems odd to me. If I had an en-suite - (I don’t, but I do have two bathrooms) that room would be for the guests - to give them extra privacy. They’re the ones that might need it, not the people in a family who already live together in a family home. It seems the wrong way round.

We’re all different. I have a bowel condition and a lot of anxiety surrounding it and I am way more comfortable having guests over knowing that I can slip away to my en suite when I need it, and that it’s in a private space that guests don’t need to enter.

I can see why people would prefer to have the en suite in a guest bedroom too, depending on the configuration of your home.

We have one in the spare room so it's not really used much, it a bit of a waste of space really.

[quote lagerandcigars]@spongbob I can see why you feel bitter - you were taken in by marketing bullshit and ended up in Canary Wharf - you can move if you’re not happy. There are more interesting parts of London to live in.[/quote]
You're weird and taking this too far. I definitely was takin in but I moved out to the suburbs and I'm very happy. Sorry you wasted thousands on an en-suite, not that deep to be calli people bitter for not liking it @lagerandcigars

@TheHoptimist

Oh and I live in a conservation area and have an Aga

I fail on all fronts it seems

Although I live in a conservation area I don't have an aga, conservatory, a big garden or off road parking. And I don't have an en suite.

I do have a wonderful study/home office with floor to ceiling bookshelves which I chose instead of an en suite. It's my favourite room in the house ❤️

I miss ours. We had one in our last house which was large and spacious (and the bedroom was very large too, so it didn't feel like the bathroom was right there). Don't have one in the main bedroom now and there is no room for one but would love to have a large main suite with en-suite bathroom and space for a dressing room again. My bedroom in my parents' house growing up had a dressing room vestibule between the bedroom and bathroom which I thought worked really well. The only en suite in our current house is in the guest room / my home office -- quite convenient as it saves me going down a flight of stairs when working and I am sure guests (when we eventually have them) will appreciate it too!

@spongbob

People are complaining about new bios snobbery (made by profit driven developers who's properties are full of snags) is very ironic. Adding a bathroom is used to drive up value that's why they are shoehorned on where they don't fit ie. already small houses, poor ventilation.

Most people vehemently defending their new builds tend to be the snobbiest. "Where do you live that a sofa is extravagant, I have six bedrooms scoff, scoff"

You're confusing wealth bragging with stealth bragging. The first is usually done by people who are proud to have a lot of money and may well boast about the size of their properties and how many bathrooms they have. The second is done by people who like to pretend they're above all that tacky materialism. They like to brag they only have one bathroom in their 900 year old cottage/rectory/ converted windmill, and have to flush the toilet with a bucket of water because it was once used by Charles the 1st and the flush is grade 2 listed.

Bedroom poo-pourri.

This is like Escape To The Country. I can see why they don't feature people who want to move from a terraced house in Croydon to a semi-detached in Thornton Heath.

But every time I watch it I wonder why middle aged Jo and Martin with no children and £450,000 to spend after paying off their mortgage want to live in a four bedroom barn conversion with a paddock for llamas in the middle of nowhere.

How many guests do you have round on a regular basis unless you're running a B&B? And do you need an en-suite or as another poster said somewhere to put your hoover and your ironing board and coats that you use every day?

I'm not saying you shouldn't have an en-suite. It's just a want rather than a need - which is okay. I don't despise people for making their choices. But like posters who provide sanpro when they don't have periods I also have my reasons for not doing that or having an en-suite loo.

I don't think MN hates them, but I think for many people they have seen plenty of bad ones. Especially at certain price points. A bad one that isn't nice to be in or which makes your bedroom smell will tend not to get used much.

And in terms of space allocation, there is a trade off. If your family is crowded in other ways, an en-suit may not be the best use of space. In a small house with my family of six (which was my situation for many years) I'd go for a family bathroom and a powder room in a more generally accessible area, more practical and loses less space.

I think we need a thread about new builds being socially inferior.

I have a new build and never realised it makes me wealthy WC !

I used to have one and don’t now. I haven’t missed it but have younger kids so not all racing for a shower/fighting teens for bathroom time.
The best thing about not having one is less cleaning.

They like to brag that they only have one bathroom in their 900-year-old cottage/rectory/converted windmill and have to flush the toilet with a bucket of water because it was once used by Charles the 1st and is grade 2 listed.

@5128gap do you know many people like that?

It winds me up when people buy a house with an ensuite and then moan when people use them to actually poo in. Fucking weird.

And in terms of space allocation, there is a trade off. If your family is crowded in other ways, an en-suit may not be the best use of space. In a small house with my family of six (which was my situation for many years) I'd go for a family bathroom and a powder room in a more generally accessible area, more practical and loses less space.

I agree, I’d rather have more living/sitting/reception space/storage than more bathrooms. That said there are obviously people on here who can afford it all and good luck to them.